DECEMBERASIA BUSINESS OUTLOOK8NEWSROOMCHINA'S MAIDEN BOND FUND RAISES CNY 5B IN INVESTMENTSMIZUHO FINANCIAL GROUP TO ENTER CHINESE MARKETSJapan and Mizuho Financial Group are looking to establish a joint venture in China, becoming the latest foreign companies to enter the Chinese and local banking markets through a wholly-owned subsidiary. The China Securities Regulatory Commission has received bids from a handful of Japan's three largest financial groups, according to a filing released Nov 22. The request comes as Mizuho hopes to tap China and its stock market, which is the largest and most profitable after the United States and Europe."Mizuho believes that it's necessary to have our securities firm in China to achieve further growth in the key market, where we launched our banking office four decades ago and more than 30,000 Japanese companies are operating," a spokesperson said.Citigroup and Standard Chartered are planning securities divestments in China after China allowed foreign securities firms to participate fully in 2019. Mizuho and its biggest Japanese rival, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, had proposed to launch a securities division in 2021 but withdrew their bids due to severe market manipulation in the sector, marketing that led to suspicion from previous managers last year. Fidelity International, China's first bond fund, raised 5 billion yuan ($700 million) of investment, deepening the asset manager's presence in the $3.8 billion mutual fund market. Helen Huang, China director, told Reuters that Fidelity is asking Chinese regulators to relax data security rules to better share research in the region to boost its growth potential in China.Fidelity and China's second-largest mutual fund, a bond fund, shortened the subscription period and raised funds from institutional investors in three weeks, the fund manager said. There are more than 150 players in China and the mutual fund industry, including foreign companies such as BlackRock, Schroders and JPMorgan Asset Management."The fundraising size is rather encouraging" due to tough competition in the local market and Fidelity's limited track record in China, said Huang, who heads Fidelity International's two-year-old China mutual fund unit.More than 200 bond products were launched in China this year, with an average revenue of 2.28 billion yuan. Competitor Neuberger Berman raised 4 billion yuan in its first bond offering in China last March.Alvin Cheng, fund manager of FIL Fund Management (China), said: "The new fund is an investment in government bonds, and Fidelity International aims to gradually increase its fixed-income products. to China to participate in investments in corporate bonds, green bonds and "There," he said. Co Ltd, China Division. DECEMBERASIA BUSINESS OUTLOOK8
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